P R O D U C T
Document Protection
Intellectual property comes in all shapes and sizes. Software is just one of them. If you want to protect your software, Protection Suite is the ideal choice: You encrypt the executable file, and it can only be run with the right license. The decryption mechanism is integrated into the file itself, and the decryption is started automatically. But what if your intellectual property is not a software application, but a digital document? Unlike with software applications, you cannot simply add the decryption mechanism to the file, because the document file is not executed itself, but opened by another application.
There are four basic scenarios for protecting documents:
1. The documents take the form of PDF files that are displayed with a PDF viewer.
2. The documents are opened and saved with one of your own applications or the application of one of your partners.
3. The documents come in a standard format and are opened and saved with a standard application.
4. The documents come in a different standard format and can only be viewed with a standard document viewer application.
Protecting PDF files One typical case of PDF files that need to be protected are handbooks, technical manuals, guidelines, or service instructions. Service documents in particular often contain very sensitive technical details. Their authors might not want them to get in the hands of competitors, unauthorized service personnel, or even media outlets. Since the PDF file type as such has become a global standard, passing on the files themselves is extremely easy.
Adobe already offers a password-based solution for encrypting PDF files. It allows special settings to prevent e. g. printing, copying, or changing the files. This standard solution, however, has three major drawbacks:
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Passwords are often too short and weak, allowing a straightforward dictionary attack.
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The user of the file needs to know the password, and might disclose it to others.
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Nothing stops screenshot applications from capturing the data.
This is where SmartShelter | PDF comes in. SmartShelter | PDF is an official Adobecertified plugin for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat Reader. It starts where the standard protections stop: The password for the document is created automatically under the hood, away from the eyes of the user. It will will be strong and no unwitting or dishonest user could share it with others. The password is created with a CodeMeter license entry.
With CodeMeter, you as the publisher decide whether the license is to be stored on secure hardware, the CmDongle, or in a computerbound license file, a CmActLicense. The document could only be opened by users who possess the license on the CmDongle or in the CmActLicense file. SmartShelter | PDF includes an author plugin and a reader plugin. The Author plugin creates the password with a master dongle, the Firm Security Box, which you also use to create the users’ licenses. The reader plugin creates the password with the assigned license on the CmDongle or in the CmActLicense and passes it on to Acrobat Reader without the user’ s knowledge. As long as the user has a valid license, he or she can open the file and use it to the extent allowed by your chosen settings.
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